Kneeling attachment for portable chairs



Sept. 2, 1958 .1. c, MEANEY KNEELING ATTACHMENT FOR PORTABLE CHAIRS Filed Oct. 31, 1955 d F m M a 3 m J United States Pat entO KNEELING ATTACHlVIENT FOR PORTABLE CHAIRS JamespClifiordMeaney, Bridgeport, Conn, assignor to Meaney & Madaloni, Inc., B r-idgeport, Conn, a corporationof-Connecticut Application October 31, 1955, Serial No. 543,766

2 Claims. (Cl. 155-169) The present invention relates to a kneeling attachment adapted to be interlocked with the rear legs of a portable chair for use in religious services or the like.

Heretofore, efforts have been made to provide kneeling attachments for portable chairs but in each instance they have been provided with means to clamp them to the rung or legs of the chairs to be supported thereby. These have had the disadvantages that they are dilficult to install, and where a brace extends from the kneeler to the rung of the chair provided means which could be reladily tripped over by persons moving along behind the c air.

The present invention overcomes these difiiculties by providing a stable kneeling attachment which is lightweight in construction and can be easily interlocked with a chair to be held in predetermined relation therewith without requiring any direct attachment to the chair.

This is accomplished by providing a kneeler having supporting means therefor provided with forward floorcngaging extensions, which extensions are connected together by transverse members having predetermined spaced relation to receive the ends of the legs of the chair and be interlocked therewith, there being no clamping or other direct attachment to the legs required. Furthermore, the transverse members and the supporting members are so constructed that they are not readily tipped if they should be stepped upon and cooperate to produce a very rigid support for the kneeler portion.

A feature of the invention resides in the fact that the kneelers may be readily attached or detached and stored since they are light in weight and easy to handle and there being no hardware connections to make to the chairs.

Another feature of the invention is the simplicity of construction and ease of assembly whereby they can be shipped in knockdown condition and readily assembled when received.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the specification and claims when considered in connection with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a sectional view of the kneeling attachment in its relation to a chair.

Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the attachment.

Fig. 3 shows the kneeling attachment in position with a plurality of chairs.

Fig. 4 shows a sectional view of the kneeling attachment with a rubber pad in position thereon.

While the kneeling attachment of the present invention can be used with portable chairs of various types having rear leg portions, it is herein illustrated as applied to a folding chair 11.

As shown in the drawings, the kneeling attachment comprises an elongate kneeler portion 12 having an upper kneeling surface 13. This kneeler portion may extend for any desired length to extend over the back of one or a plurality of chairs as required. The kneeler portion is supported in proper kneeling position by spacer floor-engaging supporting means 14 disposed below the kneeler portion and secured thereto, preferably by means of screws 15. The floor-engaging portion of the supporting means is extended forwardly of the kneeler portion at 14a, as shown inFigs. l and 2 and has a pair of transverse members 16, 17 extending therebetween which are spaced apart asufiicient distance to provid a space 18 to receive the end of the chair leg 19 of a portable chair. tobe. positioned, therein as shown in Fig. lfaiid thus become interlocked with the kneeling attachment to securely hold the kneeling attachment in position. Further, the support member 14 and the extension 14a thereof provide a broad base resulting in a stable kneeling attachment.

In the preferred form of the invention the floor-engaging portion 14a is provided with a pair of notches 20, 21 so that the transverse members 16, 17 can be received therein and also engage the fioor. This is of substantial advantage in that should the transverse members he stepped upon by a person crossing the back of the chairs, it will not tend to trip the person or tend to tip the kneeling attachment.

In addition to providing interlocking means for the kneeling attachment and chair, the transverse members 16, 17 when secured to the supporting members 14 also tie in the supporting members at their lower edges to prevent any tendency of their tipping laterally and thus produce a very rigid kneeling attachment.

From the foregoing it will be seen that no hardware is required to connect the kneeling attachment to the chair, thus reducing the cost of the attachment and siniplifying the installation thereof.

Because of the simplicity of the present invention the kneeling attachment can be shipped in a knockdown condition and can be readily assembled by unskilled help merely by fastening, as by screws or the like, the kneeler portion and transverse members to the support members, all of which can be pro-drilled to receive them.

The kneeling attachments are preferably made of wood and are light in weight. Thus, they can be readily handled when putting them in position in interlocked relation with the chair or in removing and storing them. Further, since there is no clamping or otherwise fastening of the kneeling attachment to the chair, they can be readily installed and removed, all without the necessity of having tools or the like around.

As will be seen in Fig. 3, the kneeling attachment when made to cover a plurality of chairs not only prevents relative movement between the kneeling attach ment and the chair but also tends to hold the chairs in definite alignment.

If desired, a pad or cushion 22, herein illustrated as a sponge rubber strip, can be secured to the top of the kneeling surface 13 as shown in Fig. 4.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others. a

I claim:

1. A kneeling attachment adapted to be detachably interlocked with the rear leg portion of a chair comprising an elongate kneeler portion having an upper kneeling surface, floor-engaging support means disposed below and spaced along the kneeler portion to support said portion in kneeling position above the floor, the floor-engaging portion of said support means having forwardly extending portions disposed in front of the kneeler portion, and spaced transverse members extending between said forwardly extending portions and forming an open ing extending to the floor, the spacing of the transverse members being sufiicient to receive the rear leg portion of a chair therebetween to be interlocked therewith with the legs of said chair resting on the floor.

2. A kneeling attachment adapted to be detachably interlocked with the rear leg portion of a chair comprising an elongate kneeler portion having an upper kneeling surface, floor-engaging support means disposed below and spaced along the kneeler portion to support said portion in kneeling position above the floor, said support means having floor-engaging portions extending forwardly and disposed in front of the kneeler portion and provided with spaced notches in the floor-engaging surface thereof, and transverse members extending between said forwardly extending portions and disposed in said notches and in engagement with the floor and forming an opening extending to the floor, the spacing of the transverse members being sufficient to receive the rear leg portion of a chair therebetween to be interlocked therewith with the legs of said chair resting on the floor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,379,958 Blumenthal May 31, 1921 2,225,696 Holzderber Dec. 24, 1940 2,593,177 Patterson Apr. 15, 1952 2,606,598 Smith Aug. 12, 1952 

